Mon. 9. [9 February 1903] Up at 7. We have a very nice bearer
called John. Mended sorted and shopped. Mrs Cotes came to see
me, a very nice woman. She is the author of A Social Departure and
a Canadian. Also Mr Hensman whom Mr Chirol sent to us, an editor of
the Pioneer. Pleasant. We discussed Kipling and other things. He
got into the black books of the Viceroy for opposing him in the matter
of the Waziri expedition which Lord C. [Curzon] called a blockade for
which the men were to get no service medals or anything. Finally,
largely owing to Mr H., it was made active service and the medals
given. Mr H. was struck off the Govt. House list! but is now on again.
Went out to find Mrs Moncrieff and signally failed. Home to lunch, H.
[Hugo] out. Out again after, shopped at Thanker's where I met the
Agha Khan and congratulated him on his presidential address. Then
to see Mrs M. whom I found at 2 Ballygunge a charming old house
with a big garden, playing croquet with Victor Brooke. They carried
me off the the Polo on the Bodyguard's Drag, driven by Captain
Holden. Amusing. H. was dining out so I dined with the M.s and their 2
nice old Scotch hosts, Mr Anderson and Mr Blair and we played
Carolina after dinner while the little black boys stood behind us and
chalked the cues between every stroke. Delicious misty full moon
over the garden. The residential quarter of Calcutta is charming, big
houses set in gardens with ...... It straddles south along the river and
the native quarter north. The old streets mostly have a separate
zenana house on the street where in the old days the strange women
in which our fathers delighted used to live. Now mostly used as
stables. The old fashionable part of the town was Garden Reach
which is now Jute factories. Macaulay lived in the house which is now
the Bengal Club. It has been enlarged. It has some famous
cheenam[?] columns, pure lime and egg shell. Govt House has them
too and one other house in India.